'lo again - downloading 5.0 i-386

[Jud]

On Thu, 9 Oct 2003 15:48:09 +0100, wfblabbett <wfblabbett at ntlworld.com> 
wrote:

> hello all at FreeBSD,
>
>  i'm currently downloading
> release 5.0, disc1.iso (i-386)
> despite what i was told about
> it not having javascript compatiblity
> as i'm not that bothered about javascript (and i don't know for sure
> that it doesn't support it).

That's Java, which is entirely different than javascript.  You can install 
Java as a port in 5.x, but not as a package.  In FreeBSD 4.x, you can 
install Java from either a port or a package.  If you don't know the 
difference between ports and packages, don't worry about it.

>  Anyway, i hope i can get it to work.
> I chose the i-386 dist because i thought
> that's the one i need but i'm not entirely
> sure....... what does i-386 mmean
> exactly??

i386 means PC CPU architecture, as distinct from PowerPC (Mac), Sparc 
(Sun), Alpha (DEC), or others.  (IOW, Intel x86 or compatible, such as AMD 
or Cyrix.)

It's recommended for various good reasons that folks new to the OS start 
with 4.x rather than 5.x.

There is excellent documentation available at the FreeBSD web site 
(particularly the online Handbook) and elsewhere, which is very helpful to 
read prior to installation.

Jud